The field of medicine has long employed health care screening to diagnose and tract patients"" health. An annual physical examination is a well-known part of patient medical care.
Hospitals, health clinics, and pharmacies, in addition to an active role is supplying medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, have actively promoted various health care screenings and wellness programs. Programs are sometimes offered with the help of other health care providers or coordinated on a national basis with groups such as the American Lung Association, the American Diabetes Association and the American Podiatric Medical Association.
Health care screening devices in hospitals, physician""s offices, businesses, and the like, in combination with the growing number of home diagnostic kits that are available have increased the efficiencies in health care delivery. Chain drug store operators have increasingly encouraged individual testing by making available in-store diagnostic testing devices. For example, a pharmacist who fills a high-blood pressure medicine for a customer may encourage the customer to regularly check blood pressure. The customer may use a blood pressure measurement and screening device in the drug store.
To increase attention to the health care screening category, many medical and health produce retailers offer medical tests and screening for consumers visiting their stores. Most commonly, the retailers check cholesterol levels and blood pressure, although many other tests are available. In addition to supplying a valuable customer service, in-store testing effectively educates consumers about various health problems that can be better managed by a regimen that includes monitoring. Typically consumers are unaware of the technological advances that have made health care screenings feasible in the clinical, retail, and home settings. Pharmacies and drug retailers have generally found that point out that the availability of screening test devices in the stores increases traffic and cultivates customer loyalty.
The offer of in-store testing commonly is highly popular among customers and greatly boosts the number of people visiting the store. In-store testing is valuable for positioning stores as health and wellness centers as well as retailers of health care products. In-store testing increases sales since a consumer who learns of a health problem through screening in the store has some likelihood of purchasing a home test kit to monitor the problem. For example, a customer who discovers a problem of high blood pressure through an in-store test is a likely candidate to purchase a home test kit.
In-store health care screening expands the pharmacist""s role in patient care through education. Test device manufacturers have advanced the design and functionality of products to simplify usage and improve accuracy. The challenge for further improvements in health care screening is to educate consumers about the need for medical tests, and demonstrate that many tests are effectively performed by publicly available devices or at home.
A present concern is that health screening is performed on an insufficient segment of the population to efficiently prevent or treat ailments. Other concerns are that health screening is too costly, limited in scope, and time-consuming both for individual patients and health care providers. Despite these deficiencies, a strong awareness exists of a need and desire for improved health screening procedures and equipment. Health care providers, insurance companies, and employers that ultimately pay for health care have encouraged development and usage of improved, accurate yet economic health screening facilities both for treatment and prevention of health care problems.
Generally individual doctors and small groups of doctors have insufficient capital to maintain a complete health screening facility. Even if more health care providers were suitably equipped, typically only a small part of the population exploits health screening facilities due to time and cost considerations and apathy.
What are needed are health screening devices, facilities, and methods that can be placed in locations that are convenient to health care customers. Suitable locations include retail outlets such as pharmacies or drug stores where customers already make health care purposes, but also include medical offices or hospitals, convalescence and elderly care homes, work places such as offices or factory sites, college dormitories, and the like. What are further needed are health screening devices, facilities, and methods that are convenient, efficient, low in cost, and professionally accurate in screening health care data.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a health kiosk provides blood pressure testing, a health and fitness evaluation, and a medication encyclopedia. The health kiosk typically interfaces to a computer or server, such as a pharmacy computer or a remote server which compares pharmaceuticals selected by a user to information in the medication encyclopedia to determine compatibility for prescription medications and over-the-counter medications. In some systems, the kiosk also supplies one item or more of an extended health information, a weight scale constructed into the seat of the kiosk, a directory of health care service and product providers, an a directory of community health, support, and service groups.
The health services and information system delivers services in areas ranging from patient education, medical research, dispensing of counseling and health information, and disease state management to database centralization of pharmacist-owners"" credentials. The health services and information system includes a network web site that supplies consumers with information about such topics as nutrition and fitness, women""s and men""s health, diabetes, asthma, HIV and other health conditions. Consumers also use the web site to locate a nearby pharmacy.
Health care screenings are integral to delivery of services since screenings clearly set forth a customer""s goals and needs.
The health services and information system supports third-party prescription plans and uses a managed care network to contract for third-party business on behalf of its network of stores. The managed care network allows a retailer to compete on an equal basis with chains for third-party contracts. Otherwise, most independent retailers would be locked out of the third party contracts.
Along with increased buying power, franchisees have access to support services including a nationally coordinated marketing program with health care screenings. Although, only basic blood pressure testing is described, the health services and information system can additionally support more sophisticated evaluations including vision tests, and evaluations of cholesterol levels and body fat. For example, other tests that can be performed include colorectal cancer tests, blood glucose screenings, glaucoma tests, screening for foot fungus infections, and others.